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Just a Tower - Not a Castle

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt shows a mighty castle. In the UK and Europe you all have tons of those impenetrable fortresses, but over here in the colonies we have very little to compare.

One edifice that comes to mind is the tower in Atkinson Common in a neighboring city across the river from where I grew up. This tower I believe is a WPA project built in the 1930's during the depression to put craftsman to work. It was designed to be the center piece in a park that memorializes the city's Civil War veterans.

Click any pic to enlarge

Originally there was a wooden tower set off in a corner of the park. That became too decayed and dangerous to climb. From the new tower the views must have been tremendous of the surrounding fields as well as looking down the Merrimack River valley. By the time I experienced climbing the tower the views were gone as the surrounding trees had grown up enough to block those magnificent sights.

Postcard: CrazyasaCoolFox

The tower still stands today, but in deplorable condition. The iron gates are welded shut. Looking through those gates shows evidence of late night parties with crushed beer cans and shards of broken bottles. It is said the landings on each floor are to weak and might collapse. Sadly no one has been to the top in decades. Occasionally there is call to restore the tower to it's former glory but talk is all that comes of it.

Incidentally the two teenage women in the photos are my mother, in blue, and her friend. Those photos were probably shot in the late 1930's. Click here to go to "The Kissing Bridge" also part of this beautiful park.

You may find many more castles or castle type posts at Sepia Saturday. Just click here.

Comments

I like the photo of your mother and her friend, all of them are delightful, and special for me, since we have a slim amount of castles in America, and it's wonderful to see what some Sepians have found for this theme!

I think in the UK we sometimes take our castles for granted.. Now I live in France I notice that the castles are different.. more spread out and those that are left are grander, but not so many of the smaller castles that you just seem to come across.

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